Last month, I said that I had a picture for everyone from the London Show, no matter what you collected. Let me know after you see this group if you don't agree. I'll start with my favorite "Believe It Or Not" coincidence story of the show. Pictured below is a neat little battery rest insulator that Steve Bobb (Norristown, P A) brought to the show for me to photograph. It's embossed HARD MFG. CO., and we briefly talked about the fact that neither of us had seen another insulator with this embossing, nor did we know anything about the company. Steve left the piece with me, and about 15 minutes later, I got around to putting it in the light box and got ready to shoot. 

At that very moment, Claire Reindl (Wakeman, OH) walked up to the table to say hello, and, as often happens at my table when the light box light is on, asked what I was taking a picture of. I said it was a "rare" battery rest that I had never seen before. She came around to take a look and said, "that's just like the one I have in my purse." I thought she was kidding. As you can see from the next picture, she wasn't! Not only did two show up within 15 minutes of each other, they weren't even the same color. Steve's was light aqua, and Claire's was blue-aqua.

Steve returned shortly thereafter and thought my light box had some developed a wonderful, new technique of duplicating insulators. I assured him that the only duplications were on 4" x 6" flat prints.

Steve also brought a beautiful dark teal blue lightning rod insulator for me to shoot. He had written us several months ago about the piece, but this was my first chance to see it up close. The side view doesn't reveal anything unusual, but the bottom view reveals a tiny hole (about 1/8" in diameter) that passes all the way through the insulator (it's at about one o'clock) near the outer edge. I don't have any idea as to the function of the additional hole. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks for sharing those two items, Steve (and Claire). 

Next, a couple of new porcelain finds, both apparently manufactured outside the United States. Roger Lucas brought in the first piece -- an English/Australian looking style but with the heretofore unseen embossing "AUP". Marilyn Albers was at the next table, and she confirmed it as a new and still unidentified embossing.

The second piece was provided by Bob Harding. It's a classic, old English piece embossed "REID BROS./LONDON". It has a great history which I hope to be able to share with you soon. Bob, let me know when it's OK. If you aren't in to old threaded porcelain, how about a couple of threadless.

White porcelain piece with incuse marking A.U.P.

Brown porcelain on original pin with incuse marking:
 REID BROS.
 LONDON

These two were brought in by Dick Gay. The one on the left has a gray mottled glaze. The one on the right is unglazed and very crude. Take a look at the shape of the base in the next picture. It almost qualifies as a triple petticoat. These pieces were found at a flea market in New England. Oh, by the way, the shot of the base also shows a Leffert's hook that also belongs to Dick. This piece is special to Dick because it came off a railroad line that runs right by his home. As with most of Dick's collection, the Leffert's is in excellent condition.

Bill Meier had a couple more Hemingray's to add to the picture book. On the left is a CD 214 Hemingray - 43. You probably can't tell from the picture, but it's carnival. I am always skeptical about carnivals in unusual CD's, but I've also seen a lot of strange things that have been confirmed as legitimate Hemingray dump items. I can't guarantee the authenticity of this one, and ownership can't be traced back to the dump, but it looks OK, and Bill feels pretty good about it, so we'll say "yes" until further notice. On the right is a CD 133.3 with the embossing error " PATENT / EC 19 1871". Don't you wonder how those things happen?

Jim Meyer showed me this piece several shows ago, but for some reason, I didn't get a picture of it. It's a CD 280 embossed "No. 180". The typical embossing for this piece is "No. 135", but in all other respects it seems to be a normal CD 280. Oh, by the way, this piece is a beautiful emerald green. I believe it changed hands at the London show. Jim, thanks for a second chance to take a picture of this beauty.

The last two pictures round out just about all of the opportunities for collecting in the insulator hobby. First is a CD 203, Armstrong TW. Two very unusual features about this piece -- it's amber, and it has a rather large hole all of the way through the top. Originally, I thought it was "true amber" (actually made of amber glass), but on closer inspection, it was determined to be "flashed amber" (surface treated with an amber coating). I've drilled a few holes in the tops of insulators, and I can assure you this work wasn't done by an amateur. My guess is that the flashing and the hole were both done at the factory, but I don't have a clue as to why. By the way, Jack Riesselman provided this one for the picture session.

Finally, a couple of new additions to the non-glass, non-porcelain list. On the left is a three part, composition insulator, similar in material to the so-called" Arizona beehive" which I always described as a clay-mica composition. This piece seems to flake a little more easily than the beehives did. (By the way, what happened to all of those beehives?) 

An interesting feature of this piece is that it is embossed under the top umbrella. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until next month to get the embossing. My filing system just doesn't seem to be what it used to be, and The Editor says it's publication deadline time, so next month for details.

On the right is an unusually shaped rubber insulator. No embossing, so we don't have a clue as to its origin. Both of these are compliments of Mike McLaughlin and Chuck Dittmar.

Finally, last month I promised to start the tales of the Collins Line in this month's issue. I have found retirement a little busier than originally planned, and I just didn't get to it. So, I hope you can wait one more month for the beginning of that exciting trip. Thanks for being patient.